Heating costing £150 per month - what's wrong?

[kentmonkey]

Well, here's a problem straight away.

Just checked, it is a Potterton Suprima 70l. Having just checked online, that isn't 70kw, it's actually 20.5kw. Not 70kw as the British Gas engineer said. Not 70kw as the plumber the other day said.

This massively changes things. Not sure how, I'm as thick as they come when it comes to boilers, but obviously that changes things.

 

[kentmonkey]

They definitely stated 70kw as well, not 70,000 btus. Grrrrrrr.

Not aside though, surely that bill isn't correct still, is it? Do people in three bed semi-detached houses really pay £120-140 per month on gas?

On the radiators that are hot (I forgot to pick this up), one is hot all over, so hot you can't touch it. One is that hot at the top, but not so hot at the bottom.

The one in the little room, that never gets warm, takes about 90 minutes to get up to top temperature, but when it does, it hurts to touch. Room is still freezing (double 300x300 rad, with convectors).

 

[gaswizzard]

Your gas bills are about right , don't forget input rating will be around 25kw , the gas meter should read something like this..........

25kw/h = 82.95 cu/ft hour

Say 5 hours a day at 90 days = £450 a quarter.

About right.

My bills are £650 a quarter , boiler is the slightly bigger brother to yours , suprima 80.

 

[steve32]

potterton have never made a 70KW suprima boiler the largest boiler in the suprima range is 120.000 btu's (35.17KW).

I suspect you are getting confused and have a suprima 70L 70,000 btu (25.6KW).

 

[gaswizzard]

potterton have never made a 70KW suprima boiler the largest boiler in the suprima range is 120.000 btu's (35.17KW).

I suspect you are getting confused and have a suprima 70L 70,000 btu (25.6KW).

He didn't say they did , 70l suprima has an output rating of 20.5kw (input rating is 25.6kw).

 

[gaswizzard]

+1 was thinking the same 70,000 btu and if 70 kw on 22mm what size is the gas pipe to boiler 15mm

 

[steve32]

potterton have never made a 70KW suprima boiler the largest boiler in the suprima range is 120.000 btu's (35.17KW).

I suspect you are getting confused and have a suprima 70L 70,000 btu (25.6KW).

He didn't say they did , 70l suprima has an output rating of 20.5kw (input rating is 25.6kw).

starting typing when this was on page 1 one finger typing slow

 

[gaswizzard]

8)

 

[kentmonkey]

Your gas bills are about right , don't forget input rating will be around 25kw , the gas meter should read something like this..........

25kw/h = 82.95 cu/ft hour

Say 5 hours a day at 90 days = £450 a quarter.

About right.

My bills are £650 a quarter , boiler is the slightly bigger brother to yours , suprima 80.

There are man tears on my face.

£450 a quarter!!!

/wipes eye

 

[kentmonkey]

gaswizzard, or anyone for that matter, does 22mm pipework sound right for that boiler?

 

[dormermike]

Not a plumber but... Couple of things stand out

12c?! Wow. Insulation needs sorting and drafts need fixing. Thats cold!

My home is a large detached bungalow with a 36.6kw ancient cast iron boiler, 15 rads mostly large doubles, and the heating is on a wireless programmer stat at 18-20.5c from 7am until 11pm. My last quarter gas bill for oct-dec was around £360.

Thats the first full qtr since i fitted a room stat. I forget the units used but it was 40% less than same period last year, for which we relied on the boiler stat only. It was colder too though.

I would say your gas usage is high, but the drafts and lack of insulation cant be helping. I would focus there first.

HTH

 

[heatingman]

28mm would be better, will help flow and circulation. Wont do alot for gas bills, its getting colder so boilers have to work harder. Start saving or get used to thick jumpers.

 

[kentmonkey]

Thick jumpers are already being worn. I think it's more likely to be insulation as per the post above.

I did speak to a neighbour the other day and they said their house is hard to get warm, so perhaps these particular houses are very drafty.

Looks like I may have to bite the bullet with the cavity wall insulation and hope that it doesn't cause damp problems like I've heard it can in this age house.

 

[doitall]

Have you well lagged all the pipes under the ground floor, loft etc.

Is the £120.00 a monthly direct debit or an actual meter reading each time.

Normally you pay an estimate, then it's adjusted yearly.

 

[kentmonkey]

No I haven't lagged the pipes yet, but I'm doing the pipes in the loft and in the extension walls tomorrow (I've bought the lagging to do that).

Under the floor though I wasn't planning on doing, as it'd involve ripping carpets and floorboards up and not sure a) I want to go through that effort, especially if b) it may not make much difference.

Would lagging the pipes under the floors make a lot of difference?